Small Hole Seems To Be Cause Of Barge Sinking In Gowanus Bay: EPA

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — A small hole on a barge full of sediment from the Gowanus Canal seems to be the reason it sank earlier this week into the Gowanus Bay, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA officials said Wednesday that contractors pumping water out of the barge — which became partially submerged on Monday — found a small hole on the vessel once it was "re-floated" that appears to be the cause of the incident, though they are still investigating.

They added that the bulk of the 850 tons of sediment that were in the barge seemed to have "remained in place" and not gotten into the water.

"While EPA is confident that no adverse impacts to human health resulted from this incident, EPA takes this incident seriously and is reviewing field operations associated with this Superfund cleanup," the agency said in a statement. "The dredging of the canal was temporarily halted so that efforts could concentrate on addressing the barge and barge operations."

The incident comes several months into the federal clean-up of the Gowanus Canal, which will remove 32,000 cubic yards of toxic muck from the polluted waterway.

The sediment in the barge was dredged from the canal just a few days before the barge sank, officials said.

Since the sinking, contractor Cashman Dredging pumped water from the sunken barge into a separate, empty barge, during low tide and patched up the hole, officials said.

They then moved the barge from its spot in the northern end of the Gowanus Bay to a staging area near Smith and Huntington Streets, officials said.

Barges for the dredging project are moored in an area known as the Bayridge Flats, found near where the canal feeds into the Gowanus Bay.

Dredging officially started on the Gowanus Canal in November.